Gwen Stefani Talks Motherhood & The Difficulties Of Child Rearing

Gwen Stefani may be a wife (to Gavin Rossdale), a fashion designer, and the frontwoman of No Doubt, but she admits being a parent is the thing that's changed her the most.

"It's super fun being a mom, but it's not what you think it's going to be... At first, your life is totally the same... And as they grow older, it really does start to change your life. Like, Oh, my God, they have school, they have to get through first grade, they have to learn to read," she told Vogue magazine, which features the star on its January 2013 cover. "It starts getting so serious, and you're like, Aaaaaaah!"

Gwen said while her band allowed her to stay young, being a parent, forced to be more of an adult.

"I've never had to grow up in a way. When you think about it, we were in college together, and then we made our first record, and then we just took off and stayed in this bubble," Gwen continued. "But then when you have a family of your own, it forces you to go into the adult world a little bit more."

Gwen also revealed she realized how hard parenting could be when her husband, Gavin, went on tour with his band Bush in 2011.

"I mean, he was there for me mentally, but physically? These boys are physical," Gwen said of Kingston, now 6 and Zuma, now 4. "They wake up and they start punching each other (laughs).

"One thing we've had in our relationship the whole time is that we can have it both ways: together, not together, and it's fine. But when you have kids? It's not so great. They need him. Once you have a family, it's just so obvious how everyone needs each other. So it's really nice to have him back," she added.